OREANDA-NEWS. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Bangkok based Technical Assistance Office for Lao P.D.R. and Myanmar (TAOLAM), and the Bank of Thailand jointly organized a workshop from December 3?5 in Bangkok to discuss the implementation of monetary policy operations. The workshop brought together central bank officials from four countries: Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., Myanmar and Vietnam.

International experts discussed key operational aspects of implementing monetary policy, including monetary policy instrument toolkit, data and monitoring needs, additional challenges faced in dollarized economies, and monetary policy interaction with banking and financial sectors. Participants from Cambodia, Lao P.D.R. Myanmar and Vietnam made presentations on their country experiences, challenges faced, and the way forward. Officials from the Bank of Thailand shared their experience in moving to indirect monetary policy instruments.

Building on the presentations, participants found considerable common ground on the issues and possible solutions. They noted that effective monetary policy implementation relies on a sound legal framework, an efficient payment and settlement system, and appropriate tools for the level of development of the domestic financial market. They also observed that monetary operations have to be designed to support the broader macroeconomic framework and be consistent with the state of financial markets development. The collection and monitoring of relevant data, as well as the need for clear central bank communications, were essential to ensuring the desired objectives were met.

TAOLAM, located in Bangkok, Thailand, serves mainly the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. It provides capacity-building assistance in several core areas of expertise of the International Monetary Fund: public financial management; monetary policy and operations; macro-fiscal analysis; and external and government finance statistics. Its activities are supported by the Ministry of Finance of Japan and the Bank of Thailand. The Advisory Committee comprises representatives from the member countries (the Lao P.D.R. and Myanmar), the donors (Japan and Thailand), and the IMF, is responsible for overseeing and providing guidance on the Office’s strategies and priorities.